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http://hdl.handle.net/1808/1789 the majority (Calvet 1974 cited by Nelde 1992: 391)). No wonder the English language has been referred to in the literature as a killer language (cf. Price 1984, Yuka 2002). The Yoruba-English language conflict as presented here reflects that of indigenous languages in Cameroon vis-à-vis English and French (Yuka, 2002). In each instance, the minority language has been suppressed by the majority language. Conclusion As evident from the foregoing, Yoruba can be said to have its fair share of this phenomenon of language conflict in Nigeria in that this indigenous language can now be seen to be competing rather unfavourably with a foreign language. Although Yoruba, within Nigeria, enjoys an enviable status of a national language in addition to Hausa and Igbo, the truth is that Yoruba-English bilinguals suffer internal language conflict, which is a situation that should be considered inimical to the development of this mother tongue and its speakers as well as to the development of the nation as a whole. To make matters worse, as it is for these major indigenous languages so it is for the minor ones. The English language buffets and restricts them all, makes demands on them that they do not want to bear. Yet even the most unjust, undeserved, and pointless suffering is an opportunity for growth. It is an opportunity to respond in a way that can turn these indigenous languages into powerful tools of their owners which can compete favourably well with any other language in the world. The co-existence of Yoruba and English language in western Nigeria portrays a linguistic map that is very attractive for further sociolinguistic study. Meanwhile the present paper recommends a rigorous education or re-orientation of Nigerian youths on the need to remain loyal to their cultures and languages in a world that is just governed by only one language (English). For our youths to be what they ought to be, they need the guidance of their parents, their communities and that of the nation. It is in this regard that parents, the community of language users, as well as our government must wake up to the challenge of making bilingualism additive rather than subtractive in a multilingual nation like ours. Thus we recommend as follows: - Languages such as Yoruba and Hausa should be mandatory in schools up to the senior secondary school level. - The monopoly presently being enjoyed by English as a basic requirement for admission must be broken by a corresponding basic requirement of Yoruba for admission to higher institutions for certain courses. - A credit pass in the Secondary School Certificate Examination in languages like Yoruba and Hausa must be required from every teacher trainees before being given any official appointment. 104
http://hdl.handle.net/1808/1789 - The government should increase the admission quota of applicants for Nigerian languages in Nigerian universities. - Courses in indigenous languages should be run in our universities free of charge. - Graduates of such disciplines should be given automatic employment immediately after graduation. - New entrants into the federal or state civil service and parastatals must either have a credit pass in their mother tongue at the Secondary Certificate Examination or obtain a Certificate of proficiency in it from a higher institution. - These and some other measures not stated here are necessary if our government will rejuvenate native speaker interest in these indigenous languages. Therefore the paper concludes that Nigeria’s language policy as it exists today may lead to the ruination of the state given the progressive erosion of the country’s cultural and historical heritage consequent upon the internal language conflict being experienced by her youths. Thus the paper is a clarion call on the Nigerian government to reassess its language policy. 105
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